The Ten Rules on Self-Discipline by Napoleon Hill

If there is one thing I'm going to fail over and over again, it is on the matter of DISCIPLINE. It was something, I'"m having a hard time to do or follow. Maybe the reason why I am not as successful as I would like to be. What is Discipline by the way..

Control gained by enforcing obedience or order
Orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior
training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

These are the general meanings of Discipline. But do you ever wonder why is it sometimes easier to be disciplined by someone else than to discipline ourselves on our own? We automatically wake up in bed at certain time of the day, when we need to go to work or school. On other days it feels like our bed is hugging us and won't let us go on the same time we usually wake up. These are just simpler discipline that most of the times we failed to follow. How about a bigger task of disciplining ourselves, to be able to become successful in life. I bet it is even more difficult.

Napoleon Hill, the author of the best selling book "Think and Grow Rich", enumerated 10 Rules for Profitable Self-Discipline in his book Law of Success. Here are these 10 Rules and let's see if we can at least manage to do some.

Keep your cool even when the other person isn’t
To become successful one must learn how to control his emotions. Most of us act upon our emotions. I have been guilty of this and have been trying to learn to discipline myself and control myself. We are only on the first rule but it seems that, we are going to fail at this early, hahaha. Definitely, our reaction when one is angry is to become angry as well. If someone says foul words, we tend to reciprocate the same kind of words. Hill, suggested to keep calm in these kinds of situation. It really takes a lot of self-discipline to do this. It takes a lot of courage not to stoop down to that level, though it would show that we are the bigger person than the other.

There are 3 sides to every argument: your side, the other person’s side, and the right side
This is self-explanatory. In any argument, each side is at fault. It is not only the side of your enemy that is to blame, but there is also you that needs to be blame. And in the center of this argument is the right side, which is neither of the two of you.

Never give a directive to a subordinate when angry
If you are angry and needed to give instructions to any subordinate, keep your cool quickly. You need to control your emotions and do not pass it on to other people.

Treat everyone as though they are a rich relative whom you want to remember you in their will
If someone said bad or foul words against you, what would you do? Well, the initial reaction is to reciprocate that action with the same or worse action right? But what if you know that the person is going to give you inheritance or a million bucks? Would you react the same? Probably not, you would have kept quiet and control your mouth for bursting bad words towards that person right. Think about it, if we do this to everyone we really have mastered the art of self-discipline.

Look for the seed of equivalent benefit in every negative situation
In every negative situation, we tend to feel bad. Most of the time it ruined our day, our confidence and our will. Hill suggested that on the onset of any negative situation, look for the benefit that the situation can bring. There is always something good in every bad thing that happens, look for it so that it lessens the wound. And brings back your spirit.

Ask questions then listen to the answers
If somebody makes a statement that you disagree about, instead of getting in to an argument ask him this four word question "How do you know?" And listen to what he has to say. And see him squirm. Most of the time, there is no answer because most people make a wild statement they cannot backed up with proof. By putting him into this trap, you are becoming a greater person than getting into an argument with him.

Never say or do anything towards another without first asking yourself this question:
Will it benefit them or hurt them?
Never do anything that will hurt any person under any circumstances, no matter how he may deserve it. Exercise this self discipline, because if you hurt someone else, that hurt will come back to you ten times as much. The law is..

If there's anything you do to or for another person, you do to or for yourself, there is no escape for that.

Learn the difference between friendly analysis and unfriendly criticism
Differentiate between friendly analysis and unfriendly criticisms then decide which you wish to live by in your relations with others. Friendly analysis is welcome by most sensitive people. Friendly analysis can help you improve by it. One can resent an unfriendly analysis. definitely, we know who says friendly analysis versus unfriendly criticisms.

A good leader is one who can take orders as cheerfully as they give them

Tolerance in human relations is of vital importance
Being able to master the art of self-discipline, one needs high amount of tolerance to his relationships with other human beings. We all get to interact with different personalities each day. And daily, we tend to do something with these people when dealing with them. We might feel angry, frustrated, vengeful, etc. But if we practice maximum tolerance to our relationship with others. Then we become the bigger person.

Well, these are the ten rules. I know it's going to be hard to practice all of them. It is but natural that we resent most of them, as we are human beings. However, in mastering self -discipline, we all must control our emotions and act upon the values of humanity, or even spirituality for that matter.